[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 200 (Friday, December 15, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14931-H14932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     GRATITUDE FOR A SECOND CHANCE

  (Mr. CAMPBELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker and my friends, this is a tremendous honor. 
Seldom in life do you have a second chance.
  I want to begin by paying my respects to the Speaker of the House, 
whose leadership has created the majority that I join today.
  To my family in the majority, we are a family, we will stay in the 
majority as long as we accommodate differences as families do, instead 
of striving for orthodoxy; I believe it is the strength of our party 
that is manifest in our ability to bring a broad spectrum to this 
Chamber.
  To my friends in the minority party, I remember those who helped me 
when I was here before, when I could not get my bills through and you 
joined with me. To those of you who resisted the invitation to apply a 
label to me that was not accurate, I extend my thanks. And to those who 
perhaps did not resist such temptation, I have two points to raise.
  First of all, it is simply wrong. It is wrong to tell an untruth to 
the American people. Second, it takes us away from the most important 
things that we should be doing and prevents us from delivering to the 
American people upon the propositions that we made.
  I said at the start that it is seldom that you have a second chance 
in life. God and the voters of the 15th district have given me that 
chance in life once more. To those of this body who have never left 
office, who have been consistently, through the years, in this body, I 
have a little bit of wisdom to share, that when you lose this 
opportunity, you understand what a precious and unique privilege it is, 
what an honor it is to serve in the people's House.
  I now have that particular wisdom that 1992 brought, me, and I hope 
to share it with you for many years to come. Let us use that wisdom so 
that we can give to our children and their children a country with a 
cleaner environment, with better educated children, with more 
individual liberty; but most importantly of all at this time in our 
Nation's history, a country that is not burdened by a Federal budget 
deficit, an end to the crime of stealing from our children so that we 
can spend, and the day, may it soon come, when we balance our Federal 
budget deficit.
  Mr. Speaker, that is worth every devotion of energy that we have.
  I conclude with a passage that is a favorite of mine and a favorite 
of my father, who died just before I was elected to Congress the first 
time, and you will 

[[Page H14932]]
forgive me if I think Isaiah had something to say to me today as he 
does to all generations:
  Though young men faint and grow weary, though youth stagger and fall, 
they have hope in the Lord, who shall renew their strength, and they 
shall rise as with the wings of eagles. They shall run and not grow 
weary, walk and not grow faint.

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